but one prominent democrat today suggesting he's more confident a fiscal cliff deal will get done. >> three days ago i would have said that the chances of something being worked out were at best 20%. i feel a little bit more comfortable believing that something is going to be worked out, give it about a 70% chance. the fact that boehner and the president have pretty much gotten to a point where they'll be sitting down trying to work this out as opposed to a lot of cooks in the kitchen, i think that's helpful. >> the president has the upper hand on the politics right now. i mean, there are more people who make less than there are in the top 1%, top 5% or whatever. but will it create jobs? and while the president has spent most of this negotiation process talking about taxes, he hasn't talked about cuts as much as we want to see. >> joining me now, congressional reporter for roll call meredith shiner and washington bureau chief for "usa today" susan page. susan, you heard congressman cummings there say he now gives the deal a 70% chance of happening as opposed to a few days ago when it